What does Remarketing look like?

by Colin Williamson | 25 May 2015

The use of Remarketing has grown significantly in the recent years and is commonly a key component of a digital marketing strategy. But what would be the easiest way of explaining what remarketing really is to someone who has never heard of it?

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Well perhaps a real-world example is the best approach!

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Let me introduce you to John Smith, 39 years old, father of 2, married for 6 years. He works as a banker in one of Australia’s largest banks. On the weekend, he likes to go hiking in the Blue Mountains just outside of Sydney, where he bought a new house 4 years ago. He is originally from Brisbane, has relocated with his family for work but still goes for the Broncos!

John is looking for a hotel in Paris where he is going to spend his next holidays in August. He has been searching for a hotel for the past two weeks and he is nearly ready to book that awesome place near the Eiffel Tower.

Just like every day, he goes online to browse his favourite news website. He decides to click on the International section of the website and starts reading about that excellent coffee place that just opened in Paris. He scrolls down the article and finishes reading it. He wants to click on the “Go back” button of the browser when suddenly, it strikes him.

He notices that ad on the top right corner of the page that looks extremely familiar. John recognises that hotel he considered booking a few days earlier, but didn’t because he wanted to check out other places. The ad reads “Get 10% off your booking for July or August”. Then he decides to click on the ad, for a change.

The ad takes him to a page where he only needs to fill in the check-in and check-out dates, the number of guests, and whether he wants the breakfast to be included or not (which of course he does, he surely doesn’t want to miss out on these fabulous croissants).

After filling the booking form, he does notice that indeed, the booking includes a 10% discount.

Without hesitation, John books the hotel, with a smile on his face. He has just saved enough money to treat his family with a day-trip to Disneyland.

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Congrats John! You have just been retargeted successfully by the hotel’s remarketing campaign.

The key point to remember before setting up a remarketing campaign is to… (drum roll)

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!

Learn to know who your website audience is. This information is probably the most valuable information you can get.
Why? Because it is the nerve centre of your digital marketing activity. Not just for remarketing, but also for your entire digital marketing strategy and perhaps even your offline strategy. If you want to sell well, you need to know who you can possibly sell your products/services to.

Other key points to keep in mind:

What is your goal?
Depending on your goal, the remarketing list will either target all visitors, non-converting visitors, converting visitors etc… If you are conversions-driven, then the smartest choice would be to target non-converting users (and be product specific!).

Targeting… but who?
Once you know what your goal is, you simply need to create a remarketing list in either Adwords or Analytics, and… done! Well, almost. The remarketing list is at the centre of the performance of your campaign. Start building this list… well… immediately! The bigger your list, the more people you will reach.

The time lag report
How long does it take, on average, for a user to convert? Don’t you know?! Quick, check the time lag report and set up the membership duration accordingly.

Don’t harass the users!
Make sure you set up a frequency cap on your ads (we usually aim for 6 or 7 times per day). No one likes to see the same ad 30 times a day. It might just drive potential customers away from your brand. Also, make sure not to show your ads to users who have already converted!

There is only so much you can do with Remarketing as this is one of the most powerful ways to reach customers (or soon-to-be customers). After refining your target audience and adjusting a few parameters, your campaign is ready to go live.

I would love to hear your stories of a successful remarketing strategy, or if you have been retargeted by a great campaign. Contact me!

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One Response

Hi Elodie. Thank you for this introduction to remarketing and for highlighting the benefit of the Time Lag report. Advertisers who use remarketing and who have conversion actions clearly defined can benefit from this information both online and offline, as it speaks volumes about real world buyer behaviour.